Marsh Eagle

It was a quiet afternoon today at the salt marsh. Not too much going on, just a few of the regulars fishing including the herons, egrets, ibis, pelicans and cormorants.

The sky was grey and overcast and the temps started to drop a bit so we figured it was time to head home. But suddenly this bald eagle appeared and it started to circle around the marsh area, intently keeping it’s eyes on the water below. It hovered briefly then dropped down hitting the shallow water which was hidden by the tall reeds. Next thing we know he comes up with a fish and flies off with his catch as we watch admiringly below.

We were very glad we stayed around a bit longer.

There is more to this story which I will post tomorrow, but here’s a preview. There is a roadway with a wood guard rail on the side which runs along next to the marsh.

Before the eagle left for the trees with his fish, he stopped and landed on that wood railing very close in front of me. He was still holding his fish and he just sat there looking around for about a minute and a half. We couldn’t believe it! My wife and our photographer friend Glenn were the only people around to witness this. They both got some pics  some of which as it turns out, show yours truly at work!

Bald Eagle Flight Over Marsh 01

Bald Eagle Flight Over Marsh 02

Bald Eagle Flight Over Marsh 03

Bald Eagle Flight Over Marsh 04

Bald Eagle Flight Over Marsh 05

Bald Eagle Flight Over Marsh 06

Bald Eagle Flight Over Marsh 07

75 thoughts on “Marsh Eagle”

    • Thanks Ricky, glad you liked these. It was cool to see for sure but I would have given a hundred dollar bill to have had yesterday’s light today. It was dim out there this afternoon. Yesterday I saw a GBH pull out a whopper and I was waiting (praying) for the eagle to show up but no luck. Look at me I’m complaining about today’s pics! heh heh

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    • Well Emily I’m really glad you checked out these eagle pics and you liked ’em! We had a little luck today.
      As far as settings…all manual exposure. Changing shutter speeds, lens openings, and ISO on the fly as the situations change. Fun right?! 🙂

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    • Thanks a lot Gareth! Check in tomorrow. We could not believe the eagle landed on the wood railing there and just sat there for over a minute. Lighting was lousy today though. 😦

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  5. Spectacular shots, Phil. Though that ‘fish’ looks like a muddy clump of something…. you sure it was a fish? 😉 One of my favorite Bald Eagle memories is one flying overhead with a snake in it’s claws. Not a camera in sight. sigh
    Looking forward to the next post! Hope you’re not as muddy as the fish.

    ps Particularly loved the Eagle is landing shot in this sequence.

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    • Thanks a bunch Gunta, I’m really happy you enjoyed the eagle pics! That fish looked a bit ragged for sure. It’s funny the eagle was down in the reeds for a few minutes, and at times we could see it’s head and other times we saw wings flapping but could not tell what was going on. But we speculate that it was likely fighting with a GBH over who owns this fish, and the fish got beat up. The eagle ususally wins those battles and did again today.

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  6. I never tire of eagle shots and you posted a wonderful set. I clearly must be doing something wrong or looking in the wrong places. Your slow day consists of an impressive list of interesting birds and this eagle set!!! Great work. Looking forward to the next post – nice setup.

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    • Hey glad you like the eagle photos! It was a slow day until the eagle showed up. There was a GBH and an egret pulling out fish next to us but that was only margionally exciting.
      If I was a smoker I would have lit up a cigarette after the eagle left the area. 😉

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  9. These are fantastic shots. Wish I were there just to see the eagle on its hunt. What a magnificent bird! Say hi to Glenn for me too.

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  13. Hi Phil,

    So sorry we couldn’t have been in on that great action,you really know how to keep a guy in suspense! We have been away, Sharon’s Mom Died the week after we were in MD with her for Thanksgiving. We had a short turnaround and back to MD for the funeral. I had 163 emails to go through,the Sapsucker was nice-sorry I was no help with the ID. We have one in the yard pretty regular. We have two Red-breasted Nuthatches and 1 Oriole, we haven’t seen our Rufous Hummer since we have been back,she had been here for several weeks. I have to go to Charleston to see a Dr. about ruptured disc in my neck on Thurs. Hope I can get to the park some time soon. Keep up the great work, we sure enjoy your post!!!

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  14. As ever, I’m in awe of your captures. I’d consider myself lucky if a bird was in frame, let alone in such sublime focus that I could drool over the intricacies of its feather markings – and then there’s the frame by frame display of the dynamics of flight and capture – your work is something special Phil.

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  21. collectively its as always a great sequence – but for me I prefer the shots against the marsh backdrop and the fish snatch especially the cricked neck image – there is lots of kinetic energy in that particular shot.

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    • When taking flight shots I almost always prefer when I have opportunities to photograph the birds with a more interesting background then an open blue (or worse yet grey) sky. I try to get trees, marsh reeds, grass, water, anything *if possible*. As always the birds do and go where they want with an almost total disregard for how my photos of them may look. Can you imagine such an attitude?!

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  25. Great shots. I have really got to get the boss to open an office down there and move. Tell Glenn “Hi and Merry Christmas from me.

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  28. WOW – these are some perfect and professional shots!!! I am truly impressed! Is it okay for you – if I downloaded one of these for drawing? I like to draw animals out of photos. 😀

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    • Thanks very much Andrew! Yes the light was not too good out there that afternoon. I would have paid money to have had the light we got the day before when we saw no eagles. But so it goes with nature and wildlife photography.

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